Thoughts in the Shadows
by Lilyth Celestyn
Summary: Rated for Future chapters. Tells the tale of what happens after the Elric brothers return to Central after the movie. First Attempt in FMA stories ON HOLD
1. Chapter 1

Thoughts in the Shadows

Chapter One: Thoughts in Motion

Edward Elric, at the age of twenty three, and his younger brother Alphonse Elric, age twenty one, had been traveling the 'other world' in search of a place to call their own. A place that could replace Central, Resembool, or Lori; a place with Winry, Roy, Pinako, Riza, Rose, Gracia—or at least a place that would equal the spot that they weren't able to fill because of being home. Al had been happy knowing that he would be with his brother, that they would be together and that they could travel a new journey. Ed agreed to an extent of course, he had given up his life for Al to live, but what he needed most was alchemy.

On the dimension they were on, alchemy was a myth—a story to mystify children with before they fell to sleep. But to the Elric's it was what governed their very existence and it was now missing, had been for five years for Al, seven for Ed. Neither would completely stop their search for a way home, but they couldn't devote their lives to it for much longer. It was something that just couldn't be done. How was two young men suppose to survive if they knew not the rules of the land? Knew only what was in a land that they may never see again. Edward feared that even if they could find a way back, they wouldn't be able to use their old knowledge of Alchemy because of the lack of manipulation.

Even now, sitting at a small diner in a small English town, they were lost. Edward knew that it was time for them to return to Munich. Return to Noah. Ed cringed. He loved the young woman sure—not as she wanted though—but the woman he truly loved was blond, violent, and in a completely different world. Noah was beautiful with her brown hair, braided mostly of late, tender and oblivious to the other young man that lived in the house. Noah was so much like Rose, the woman that had captured Al's heart during the two years that he and Al had been apart. Al had confided in Ed that even though he had been smaller then he should have been, Rose had shared his feelings.

That revelation was worse then anything else because it showed Ed what he could have left his brother too. What his brother would be like now, after five years, if left in that time…would he be happy? Would Al understand the pain that Edward felt about taking Al away from those they loved? Ed's golden eyes looked up at Al, a smile on his face as he approached. Would he ever be able to make up that loss?

"You're thinking too much again, niisan." Ed smiled, nodding, as Al sat down again next to him. "The woman at the counter helped me get a hold of the local shipyards and one ship is heading down to a small German town this afternoon. Says we can get passage if we don't mind roughing it in the galley."

Ed made an affirmative noise, "That sounds good Al, when do we leave?" He hated the fact that he had to have Al make all the travel plans for them.

"The sooner we get to the shipyard the better, he says that in this beautiful weather it shouldn't take us too long to get there and it's only another few hours from Munich."

"Then we best get going, it'll be nice to rest in a real bed." Ed stood leaving a few pounds on the table to cover their bill and walked out with Al right beside him. It was only a few minuets until they reached the ship and the captain standing outside of it.

The vessel was small—capable of housing three at most with a small cargo. It seemed that this man was more helping them then needing to go across. Ed walked to the man's side he looked just like Kain Fuery. "You must be Misters Elric, pleasure to meet you. I'm Karl Eri, I'll be your captain and navigator for the trip into Germany."

Al bowed lightly, murmuring a thank you, as Edward surveyed the stability of the boat. He nodded and turned back to Karl. "What do we owe you for the ride?"

"No need for that—I'm heading home anyway," glancing at them for a moment Karl continued, "if there isn't anything else you need to do in town, why don't we head out?"

Thoughts in the Shadows

Edward's head was pounding as he sat up. His cloths soaked, hair matted, a small trickle of blood running down his face. Al was laying a few feet from him, his face in the rocky sand. He too was soaked, his body was bloodier though and that terrified Ed. "Alphonse," he murmured as he forced himself to move over to his brother. "Alphonse." As he turned his brother carefully onto his back, his heart was racing. What had happened on the water? Where was the boat or Karl? Would Al live? Where were they compared to the next nearest town? "Alphonse."

"Niisan," his voice rasped lightly. Edward exhaled slowly, taking a deep breath in gratitude. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, Al, but if you can walk lets try to get to a town or city." Al nodded and getting a hand from his brother, stood. It was already pretty dark, the stars just now starting to become apperent in the sky. "We should pick a direction, Al."

Al gazed up at the fiery orbs and his eyes danced along different configurations. Stargazing had always been a favorite pastime of Al's but never before had Ed thought that it would come in handy. Al knew Germany better then anyone they had ever met. "Niisan, we should go south east. From this position, Munich would be the beset solution." They began to walk.

Thoughts in the Shadows

It was around two or three in the morning when they reached the city limits. The security of Munich had been raised while they were in England, they had known, but to see active army men standing watch was surprising. They stumbled past the first patrol hearing whispers of their names, seems that they were more recognizable then they thought. They didn't speak as they moved, they didn't acknowledge those still out of bed, and their only thought was that of getting home.

Only something was beginning to be wrong, as far as Ed was concerned. Roads that should have moved all they way to the main street were cut off by buildings that he knew weren't there the month before. Could the city have developed that quickly? Edward didn't want to think so. Al was now leaning into his brother's grasp as they walked, struggling to find the footing he needed on the nicely paved roads. Roads that shouldn't have been paved. Edward could feel Alphonse's shivering and knew that he needed to get warm soon, but he too was quivering in his wet, cold cloths.

Ed lost his step and fell to the ground, Al following in sheer inability to save himself. The elder brother caught them with his metal arm but couldn't move beyond that. He and Al laid there incapable of caring that they were still freezing. Edward heard someone call out that they were there, that they needed help—a hospital, but Ed found that he couldn't care as he followed Alphonse into unconsciousness.

Everything was warm and blurry when Edward opened his eyes. The room was in soft tans and whites, muted by the darker tan curtains. There were flowers in a vase on a table across the room that he started to see as his vision cleared. The past few days seemed to be purely the error in trial and error, Edward decided as he noticed the Hospital machines that were in place beside him—his vitals were healthy, he noted, remembering what he had read when Alfonse was first getting really sick. As soon as he knew he was okay he tried to find Alphonse, but he wasn't in the room with him.

Normally the old Ed would have removed himself from the machines and then wondered off to find his brother, but he had matured in the years that had passed—he hit the nurse's button. A few minuets later a young woman walked in, a smile on her face as she looked at him. "It's so good to see you awake, Mr. Elric. The staff wasn't sure if you'd come back to us." Before he asked her anything he allowed her to run through her checks, knowing she'd be easier to deal with if he allowed her to do her job first. "You seem to be as good as new, although you will need to have your appendages fixed."

He nodded. He knew they needed to be fixed, but only Winry could do it. And he'd never see her again. He sighed. "Ma'am," he began, fixing another smile on his lips, "where is my brother, Alphonse?"

"We sent him home a few days ago, Mr. Elric; he should be here in a few hours. He's been keeping nearly a constant vigil over you. We let the general take him home so that he could get some sleep yesterday. He's been a mite stubborn about leaving your side."

"Thank you," Ed said as he let her take out the IVs. He leaned heavily into his pillow allowing himself to drift. Against all odds, he and Al had made it home before the hypothermia really set in. They had been lucky. They seemed to always be lucky during their travels. It was like a never ending pattern of survival; ever since the day that they had attempted to revive their mother. Overcoming the obstacle that was Sloth was—still to this day—the hardest thing he had ever done.

"You sure seem to get into trouble Fullmetal," a familiar voice pointed out at the door.

After a second of silence Ed nodded, "I do indeed." Another few seconds brought wide, bright gold eyes to lock on heated blue—Eyes that he knew, eyes from another world—a world where he wasn't just some traveler, a gypsy by convenience. They were the eyes of one of his closest friends. "Colonel Mustang, sir?"

"Welcome home, Edward."

Ed smiled. He and Al were home. He wasn't sure how, and he wasn't sure if he cared, they had made it back to where they really belonged. "Roy, it's been seven years since we talked. What has been happening?"

"The year you vanished Alchemists were put onto reserve, not wanting a repeat of Ishbal or Loir. After the incident with the gate, when you and Alphonse left, Alchemists were reinstanted under the command of some nobody calling himself the Dark Alchemist. He almost completely destroyed Central three years ago. It took nine of us: me, Strong Arm, Iron Blood, Crystal, and a few you won't recognize from the military, along with Izumi before she died—it took us all to take him down. Only five of us survived, but the Dark Alchemist was killed. After a long debate after that, Crystal Alchemist was placed in command of the Alchemists; he alone has control of us—not even parliament can command us.

"We've rebuilt Loir, Ishbol, and Central in the last three years. It was a task only an Alchemist can do, but it was also something that we could be proud of. Unfortunately, one of our neighbors has begun war prepreations against us. We have to keep an eye on all that is happening, incase they begin to move. Our people can't really take more oppression."

"If I'm cleared Roy, I'll be fighting at your side… If of course Winry can fix me up and I can still use my alchemy."

Roy chuckled as Winry and Al walked into the room. "You're awake," they both exclaimed before hugging him. Winry continued, "It's good to see you, Ed. Do you fell up to me working on your automail?"

"If you don't mind, Winry, I'd love to be able to stand soon." She smiled as he pulled the pillow away from his so that he could lay flat on the bed to make it easier for her. "Hey Al, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Niisan. I wasn't as bad as you were, although I had lost more blood. I'm sure you got regaled with my behavior by one of the nurses. What about you?"

"Other then not having an arm or leg connected, I feel great. Um, I know you've both watched before, but could Winry do this without you guys here?" Both men nodded and left the room. Ed relaxed as she tended the nerves in his leg. He let his mind wander to the different situations that had left him in this same predicament. He was almost expecting a reprimand from Winry about his inability to care for his automail.

"Edward," she began as she reconnected the nerves, pain shooting up his spine.

He sighed before replying. "It may not be my place, Winry, but I missed you." He smiled lightly as she blushed.

"I missed you too, Ed." She finished the leg in quick movements after that, moving up to look at the more damaged arm location. "This really got banged up, do you remember what happened?"

"I want to say it was the storm; tossed us out of the boat we were in and somewhere between then and waking I hit something, hard. Is it going to be difficult to mend?"

"Of course not, you're talking to the number one Automail Specialist in all of Amestris. But this is going to hurt." Ed nodded and allowed her to reconnect and create several new nerves, a procedure that hurt like hell in the place it was. Time blended as she reattached his limb, she smiled. "All done," she voiced as she put down her tools. He grinned and moved to sit up.

"Thank you, Winry."

"You're welcome, Ed," she whispered as she let her lips brush his cheek, "And it may always be your place to tell me that, Edward." Picking up her pack she walked out into the lounge. He grinned and stood. Picking up the small bag she had left. It was filled with his cloths—or at least cloths that could fit him—and his coat. His face smiled uncontrollably at the sight of his 'uniform' that he had worn all those years while in search of the Philosopher's Stone. He dressed quietly.

Walking out to his family, he saw the smiles on their faces. It was the first step of being truly home, being back with his family—brother and all.

TBC

Thoughts in the Shadows


	2. Author's Note

Hello Everyone,

While some day these stories may be continued by me, its original author; I don't know when that could be. Therefore, if someone wants to ADOPT them from the point they are and write it, please contact me through PM and I will be glad to update this Author's Note to send all readers to the new story location. Any other information I have for the story, if it has it, I will send via Email if desired. This is going in multiple locations, sorry to anyone who sees in 6 times.

Up for Adoption:

Harry Potter and the Dark Brotherhood—I have a crude paint-crafted map of the Ally Layouts as well as some information about the people from the Dark Brotherhood that I made. I can send both.

Unseen Lines—All I ask is Harry's name stay the same and the first two chapters stay in the same relative order and content—but you can change it as you want. I really want to read this if someone adopts it. I have a tentative beginning of a chapter 3, you can have and see if you want to use any of it.

The Demon Within—I hate to put this up for adoption, but I really fear that I will not get any farther on this any time soon. Maybe when I have time to watch the series again, but who knows. Many of the concepts were taken from the series, OAVs, or the movie with some manga aspects as well. The blood rain is an important concept, please keep it.

Thoughts in the shadows—Ok I don't know where I was going with it. It started perhaps being Winry/Ed, then I thought Roy/Ed and finely I just kinda gave up with no clue what to do. Good Luck to whoever takes it.

Persuasion—Was suppose to be a much longer story that I have never managed to continue. I started it a couple years before I posted it. I lost what was chapter 2 to a virus and never managed to get it back and couldn't remember what I had written. If anyone reads it and has ideas for a continuation, I'd be thrilled.


End file.
